One of the WWII-era advertisements directed me to visit GetaWarJob.com, a recruiting website for the American military. A business card on the website told me to dial 866-931-9417 to hear a rousing speech urging me to enlist. And without even realizing what I was doing, I found myself enlisting for military service on the registration page. Fine upstanding citizen that I am, I expressed an interest in “Law Enforcement”, one of the many military fields available. The recruiter got back to me fairly quickly verifying my interest in an honorable career of government service.

Underlying this military fervor is a trifling concern. It seems a deadly strain of influenza is ravaging Europe. “La Grippe” made the Great War fairly uncomfortable for its soldiers…somehow, I can’t imagine it being any easier the second time around. Although as long as I eat my vegetables, avoid immoral behavior, and floss daily, I’m sure I’ll be fine. And the discovery of oddly familiar alien skulls deepens my sense of foreboding. Indeed, an encrypted message within the advertisement asks “How far will they go Project Abraham”, leading to ProjectAbraham.com. The morse code at the end of the video at the “Project Abraham” site leads to a page showing a group of soldiers.

When ARGNet last asked 42 Entertainment to confirm rumors that they were developing an alternate reality game for Resistance 2, they offered no comment. The privacy policy reveals that this campaign is sponsored by Sony Computer Entertainment America, Resistance 2’s publisher. Whether or not 42 Entertainment are behind this project, the interface looks slick, the audio and recordings have a nice vintage feel, and the propaganda posters will take you back a few decades. It remains to be seen whether this game will be as “viral” as the flu, but initial indicators look promising.

Click Here for the thread at UnFictionClick Here for the sneak peek of the preview of GamePro Magazine

Update: Some of you might be wondering why the woman in the ProjectAbraham video (let’s call her “Cassie”) looks so familiar. Although this has not been confirmed by official sources, “Cassie” bears a striking resemblance to Katee Sackhoff, an actress you may know better as Kara “Starbuck” Thrace from Battlestar Galactica (or as the voice of Female Marine #3 from Halo 3 for you diehard Halo fans). The resemblance is uncanny, really.